The Rich Ruler Asked the Wrong Question
Year B: Proper 23
When in Luke the rich young ruler asks Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (18:18, NRSV), he isn’t asking how to go to heaven when he dies. He is asking about the new world that God is going to usher in, the new era of justice, peace, and freedom God has promised his people. And he is asking, in particular, how he can be sure that when God does all this, he will be part of those who inherit the new world, who share its life.
Year B, Proper 23, October 13, 2024
First Reading: Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
Psalm: Psalm 90:12-17
Second Reading: Hebrews 4:12-16
Gospel: Mark 10:17-31
The Rich Ruler Asked the Wrong Question
The story of the rich young ruler has caught the attention of many students of Jesus because of the typical human desires of wealth and fame. If that desire, which seems so natural to us, is at odds with the kingdom of heaven, then who can be saved?
Instead of approaching the passage with the usual anxiety, let’s slow down and pay attention to some details that I think shed a lot of light on the text.
The rich man wanted to know what he needed to do to inherit eternal life.
Perhaps his idea that eternal life is something that could be inherited through one’s own abilities came from the success he had in this life. If this man is the same young man of Matthew 19, then undoubtedly success at such a young age could influence one’s perspective on eternal things.
I know a lot of people who have a similar mindset. They, like I once did, believe that heaven is attainable through doing the right things in the right ways at the right time. Check these boxes, don’t miss a worship service, and be a good little boy or girl.
I don’t believe that Christians are to be lawless and live however they please—far from that; instead, I believe that we work from justification, not to justification. That is, we are justified by faith, and this faith is so transformative that we can’t help but follow Jesus.
Instead of doing something to earn eternal life, we accept the free gift and allow it to transform us.
The rich young ruler is starting out with the wrong mindset.
After a few comments about the word “good” Jesus plays the man’s game and tells him to have the abundant life of the age to come, the man has to keep the commandments. In his listing of them, though, he leaves out the tenth command: thou shall not covet.
It has been said that the first four commands emphasize love for God, without which one cannot love one’s neighbor. The last six commands emphasize love for neighbor, without which one cannot love God.
Why did Jesus leave out covetousness?
I think it’s because he knew that this was the one command the man struggled with the most.
As a rich man living in impoverished and oppressed Judea, this man must have acquired his properties through unjust means. As John said,
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? 1 John 3:17
So Jesus ordered the man to sell his property and give the proceeds to the poor. The man went away sad.
This command was not because having property is bad or having riches is inherently sinful; this command came from the general truth, specific in this man’s case, that riches are often procured through deceptive practices that aren’t in line with the ethic of the kingdom of God, especially in the context of empire.
What’s ironic about this situation is that the man would lose all of his possessions anyway. He would, of course, one day die, but if he was the young man of Matthew 19, then it is possible he would live until the fall of Jerusalem, which Jesus said would happen within one generation (Matthew 24:1-3, 34).
There are several commands in scripture, such as the suggestion by Paul to not marry in 1 Corinthians 7, which were given in the context of the distress leading up to the fall of Jerusalem.
Of course, the rich man had no knowledge of this, otherwise he might see liquidating his properties has a smart move, but we also don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow.
We might lose everything, maybe even our lives.
What might Jesus be asking us to give up so that we can follow him? What might be standing in the way of us and the abundant life Jesus wants us to have?
Second Reading: Confidence Before the Throne
In the Hebrew Scriptures, there is a story about a queen named Esther who was put in a very difficult position. Her people were threatened with genocide, but she could risk her own life to go before the king and request that he offer the people a way of escape.
Why was her task so risky?
Because in that culture, if someone approached the king when hadn’t called for them, he could have them put to death on the spot.
Esther’s bravery in the face of death has inspired people throughout the ages to embody the same bravery in their walk with God, but that’s not the point I want to make here. Instead, think about why she was afraid. Her fear came from because of her knowledge of the king’s uncertain wrath. Who knows how he would receive her?
Do we approach God with the same concern? If so, we must not have the right picture of who God is. Because of Jesus, we can have a “face to face” relationship with God and approach the throne with total confidence. The Hebrews writer said,
“Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14–16).
We can be certain of God’s mercy and grace because through Jesus God can totally identify with our weakness. There is no pain, no misfortune, and no fear that Jesus has not felt. Be bold in the requests you make of God. Be confident when you approach his throne of grace.
For an extended version of this, please read my article in the Sand Mountain Reporter:
Thanks so much for keeping up with this blog. If you have any suggestions, recommendations, or critiques, you can always comment here or reach out through my website: https://danielr.net.